Rare Musical Artifacts of Beethoven, Mozart, Schubert, Mahler, and Strauss on Display in United States for the First Time in Carnegie Hall Exhibit, February 25 to May 5

Image: First sketch of Beethoven's Ode to Joy, courtesy of Gesellschaft der
Musikfreunde

Beginning in late
February, Carnegie Hall will display an extraordinary selection of rare musical
artifacts—put on view to the public for the first time in the United States—as
part of its exhibit, Vienna’s
Musical Giants: Treasures from the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde.
Vienna’s Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde (Society of the Friends of Music) has
loaned 25 priceless original manuscripts and artifacts to Carnegie Hall’s
Archives for this special exhibit, which will include autograph scores and
personal items of composers who feature prominently in Vienna’s musical history,
such as Beethoven, Schubert, Mahler, Mozart, and Johann and Richard Strauss,
among others. The items on display reflect the musical works to be performed in
coming weeks by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Vienna State Opera, and
other artists as part of Carnegie Hall’s citywide Vienna: City of Dreams
festival. The exhibit will be on display in Carnegie Hall’s Rose Museum from Tuesday,
February 25 to Monday, May 5, 2014. Admission is free.

The Carnegie Hall
exhibit will feature musical manuscripts paired with every-day objects
belonging to the composers, casting a light on the human element of these
revered historical figures. The first sketch for Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy” from
his Ninth Symphony (pictured above) is juxtaposed with the ailing composer’s
medicine spoon, referencing the health problems that overshadowed the later
life of this musical genius. A perfectly executed manuscript of Mozart’s Three
Duos for Two Wind Instruments K. 487 / 1, 3, 6, includes a note written by the
composer, explaining that the works were composed while playing skittles—a
precursor to bowling. Other unique items include Richard Strauss’s lucky horse
shoe, a ticket to a 1792 Haydn concert in London—numbered and signed in the
composer’s own hand to keep track of box office receipts, and a poster
advertising the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra’s inaugural concert on March 28,
1842.

Featuring prominently
in the display will be hand-written music manuscripts, including the beginning
of a third movement to Schubert’s “Unfinished” Symphony; Mahler’s handwritten
score used to conduct the first performance of his Fourth Symphony; a
leather-bound copy of Bruckner’s Sixth Symphony dedicated to a friend of the
composer; sketches from Berg’s Wozzeck
and a draft score of the composer’s Lyric
Suite; as well as a piano transcription of the Blue Danube waltz written
by Johann Strauss. Other composers represented with original items include
Brahms, Schoenberg, and Webern. In addition, the exhibit will include images of
Vienna that display the city’s development throughout the composers’ lives.

The Gesellschaft der
Musikfreunde was founded in Vienna in 1812 for the purpose of promoting music
in every way possible. Its main goals were to present music events, establish a
conservatory for the teaching of music, and collect a wide variety of materials
related to music. The society became a center of musical Vienna with a
distinguished membership; Schubert was a board member, Brahms was a director,
and Mahler was a graduate of the conservatory. The Gesellschaft der
Musikfreunde built the Vienna Conservatory in 1819 and the magnificent
Musikverein in 1869. The Musikverein’s stunning Golden Hall, known worldwide
for its incredible acoustics, is home to the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. The
collections of the society’s archives and library extend from the 12th Century
to the present, and include bequests from Carl Czerny and Johannes Brahms,
items purchased after the deaths of Beethoven and Schubert, and by gifts from
renowned personages such as Alma Mahler.

The Rose Museum is located
on the second floor of New York’s Carnegie Hall (entrance at 154 West 57th
Street). The museum is open daily from 11:00 AM-4:30PM. Admission is free. The
Rose Museum is also open to ticketed patrons before concerts and during
intermission for events taking place in Carnegie Hall’s Stern
Auditorium/Perelman Stage.

Vienna: City of
Dreams

From February 21 to March 16, 2014,
Carnegie Hall presents Vienna:
City of Dreams, a three-week citywide festival featuring more than
90 events at Carnegie Hall and 23 partner cultural organizations throughout New
York City, all inviting audiences to discover the extraordinary artistic legacy
of Vienna. The festival features symphonic and operatic masterpieces, chamber
music, and lieder, as well as new sounds emerging from this historic cultural
capital. In addition to music, Vienna:
City of Dreams shines a spotlight on Vienna’s visual arts, film,
architecture, politics, science, and history, creating an extensive look at a
city that for centuries has drawn artists, dreamers, and innovators from all
corners of the world to its dazzling intellectual and artistic life.

The centerpiece of Vienna: City of Dreams is
seven concerts to launch and conclude the festival at Carnegie Hall by the
renowned Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and Vienna State Opera, led by esteemed
conductors Franz Welser-Möst, Daniele Gatti, Andris Nelsons, and Zubin Mehta
all in Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage. The residency includes concert
performances of Alban Berg’s Wozzeck
and Richard Strauss’s Salome,
marking only the second time in their history that the Viennese musicians have
performed opera in concert at Carnegie Hall.

Vienna has long been
known as a crucible for creativity and great artistic achievements, especially
in the area of classical music, and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and
Vienna State Opera have both been at the center of the city’s artistic life
since their inception. Concerts presented as part of Vienna: City of Dreams
highlight the roles played by these unparalleled cultural institutions as well
as Carnegie Hall’s longstanding partnership with the orchestra, which has
appeared more than 100 times at the Hall since its 1956 debut—more than any
other overseas ensemble.

The Vienna: City of Dreams
celebration extends throughout New York City with festival events at leading
cultural institutions, crossing arts disciplines to include music, film, visual
arts, panel discussions, and even a Viennese Opera Ball, which launches the
festival on February 21. For a complete list of partners and events, please
click here
for festival press kit.

Carnegie Hall has
launched a special website, carnegiehall.org/vienna,
which features information on festival events, interviews with artists, videos
introducing the music being performed, and other content designed to illuminate
Vienna: City of Dreams
offerings. Once the festival begins, Carnegie Hall will also capture video of
select Vienna: City of
Dreams performances to be shared alongside this content on the
website.

This exhibition is
funded in part by the Susan and Elihu Rose Foundation.

Lead funding for Vienna: City of Dreams is
provided by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.